Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-12-22

Only another soul
Gone to the dreamless rest"
The morning of December %, 1862, let
its light fall upon fifteen thousand of these
silent breasts at Charlottesville.
1t is by vivid contrast that good and III,
the beauty and deformity, can be best meas.
ured. Seen in this kind of luminous air the
present Christmas stands forth like white
angel upon sun1it mountain top. Peace,
thought, industry. wider study of light,
more rational religion have toiIed togeth-
er and have woven for this goddess of De-
cember richer robe and more thornless
crown
AS in this festivity one can read the gen.
eral condition of an age as to war and peace,
material prosperity and adversely. SO in its
form of happiness chosen by the indiTid-
uals may be read the progress or decline of
personal worth. holiday is always test
,of character The man of bad habits and of
weak will power passes without much honor
through this time of merry making. He
doubles the quantity of his food and drink,
he ventures upon bet or two in the low
card room; and instead of doubling the
happiness of his wife and children or of his
mother and sisters, he doubles their anxiety
and grief. 1t is said that the common Sun
day which brings peace and rest to the
many, brings temptation and ruin to few
of strong passion and weak self-controL
Laborers have often been paid only upon
Monday, that their wages might not be con-
nected with an idle day. It is painful re-
Election that such Christmas as the Amer
lean children and older hearts now possess,
"a Christmas rescued from war, pestilence,
kingcraft, Puritanism and poyeKty---should
find many man wholly unable to appre-
ciate the lofty moral beauty of the day and
able to find in it only temptation to deeper
vice
Not quite as unfortunate, but yet much to
be lamented, is the fact that many industri-
GUS and honest people are too poor to cele-
brate this day as it should be marked by
every freside. When one sees small chill
dren attempting to make a Christmas tree
out of little green bough not more than
span long, attempting TO ornament it by
tying to it some little pieces of colored
paper and pieces of broken glass, their feet
being meanwhile almost shoeless, and their
wretched home without fire, one can not
but wish that the angel of wealth would
come to each Of these little ones in the night
before Christmas and put plenty Of silver
coin in each expectant stocking
The modern Christmas, standing as it
does for the new intelligence and the new
benevolence of society. does not exhaust
itself m what is called "a good time" but it
helps create better industry, better laws,
better relations between master and serv-
ant. between capital and labor. better lit
erature and a better religion. Great news
papers and all the magazines publish Christ
mas numbers; the churches have sermons
and services full of this sympathy for man;
the schools, secular and religious, bring for
ward at this time all of that music and lit
erature which asserts the oneness of hu-
manity. That day is the peoples day.
Kiups and uresidentS ara nIacad doxp-y, bx
the fireside, and are fortunate If they can
point to the happiness which cheers the
home of the thrifty mechanic or farmer or
tradesman- It accomplishes more for lib
erty than does the Fourth Of July, because
the July holiday only celebrates the coming
Of a liberty which Christmas continues from
year to year to enlarge
Charles Dickens helped make better De-
oember for the Enalish- speaking race: but